MANILA – Milwaukee Bucks is one win away from moving to the next round after a 113-84 annihilation of Miami Heat in Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference’s first-round playoffs on Thursday night at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.
Khris Middleton top-scored with 22 points for the Bucks, while Jrue Holiday added a double-double of 19 points and 12 assists as they surged to a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Giannis Antetokounmpo posted a double-double of 17 points and 17 rebounds, Brook Lopez scored 13 markers, while Bryn Forbes and Bobby Portis have 11 points each for Milwaukee, which is close to fulfilling its revenge on the Heat for ousting them a year ago.
Milwaukee dominated the court in the early round as they climbed to a 26-14 advantage before widening it to 19 points midway in the second period, 44-25, following hits by Middleton.
The Heat trimmed the deficit to 14 points in the second half several times, but the Bucks responded with a shooting spree and swelled the lead to 27 points in the final quarter.
Jimmy Butler finished with 19 points, while Bam Adebayo and Nemanja Bjelica drained 17 and 14 points, respectively, as the reigning Eastern Conference champions Heat were just one defeat away from being booted out.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles Lakers leaned on a second-half breakaway to take down Phoenix Suns in Game 3 and surged to a 2-1 edge in the Western Conference first-round playoffs series.
Holding to a 43-40 halftime edge, the Lakers started the third quarter strong behind LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Andre Drummond to establish a 76-63 gap.
The Suns cut the deficit to 68-76 in the fourth period, but three-point conversions from Wesley Matthews and Marc Gasol and inside attacks by James propelled Lakers to seize a 91-70 advantage.
The Suns made its last push by trimming the deficit to eight points on three-point conversions by Cameron Payne, but free throws by Kyle Kuzma and Dennis Schroder sealed the win for the Lakers.
Davis tallied 34 points and 11 rebounds, while James and Schroder added 21 and 20 markers, respectively, for the defending champions Lakers.
BOX SCORE:
MILWAUKEE 113 – Middleton 22, Holiday 19, G. Antetokounmpo 17, Lopez 13, Forbes 11, Portis 11, Connaughton 9, Tucker 5, Bryant 4, Diakite 2, DiVincenzo 0, Teague 0, Toupane 0, Nwora 0, Merrill 0.
MIAMI 84 – Butler 19, Adebayo 17, Bjelica 14, Herro 9, Dragić 8, Dedmon 4, Nunn 4, Iguodala 3, Robinson 2, Vincent 2, Achiuwa 2, Ariza 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
26-14, 49-36, 86-60, 113-84./PN
